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<div class="section boost_bimap_bimap_and_boost">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
<a name="boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost"></a><a class="link" href="bimap_and_boost.html" title="Bimap and Boost">Bimap and Boost</a>
</h2></div></div></div>
<div class="toc"><dl>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex">Bimap
      and MultiIndex</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html">Boost
      Libraries that work well with Boost.Bimap</a></span></dt>
<dd><dl>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.introduction">Introduction</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_serialization">Boost.Serialization</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_assign">Boost.Assign</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_hash">Boost.Hash</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_lambda">Boost.Lambda</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_range">Boost.Range</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_foreach">Boost.Foreach</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_typeof">Boost.Typeof</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_xpressive">Boost.Xpressive</a></span></dt>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.boost_libraries_that_work_well_with_boost_bimap.boost_property_map">Boost.Property_map</a></span></dt>
</dl></dd>
<dt><span class="section"><a href="bimap_and_boost/dependencies.html">Dependencies</a></span></dt>
</dl></div>
<div class="section boost_bimap_bimap_and_boost_bimap_and_multiindex">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title">
<a name="boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex"></a><a class="link" href="bimap_and_boost.html#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex" title="Bimap and MultiIndex">Bimap
      and MultiIndex</a>
</h3></div></div></div>
<p>
        <span class="emphasis"><em>MISC</em></span> - <span class="bold"><strong>M</strong></span>ulti-<span class="bold"><strong>I</strong></span>ndex <span class="bold"><strong>S</strong></span>pecialized
        <span class="bold"><strong>C</strong></span>ontainers
      </p>
<div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>
          <span class="emphasis"><em> Let's be generic, construct frameworks, describe the world in
          an unified way... </em></span>
        </p></blockquote></div>
<div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>
          <span class="emphasis"><em> No!, it is better to be specialized, design easy-to-use components,
          offer plug-and-play objects... </em></span>
        </p></blockquote></div>
<div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>
          <span class="bold"><strong> Why not take advantage of the best of both worlds?
          </strong></span>
        </p></blockquote></div>
<p>
        <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/bimap/miBimapFramework.png" alt="miBimapFramework"></span>
      </p>
<p>
        With Boost.Bimap, you can build associative containers in which both types
        can be used as key. There is a library in Boost that already allows the creation
        of this kind of container: Boost.MultiIndex. It offers great flexibility
        and lets you construct almost any container that you could dream of. The
        framework is very clean. You might want to read this library's tutorial to
        learn about the power that has been achieved.
      </p>
<p>
        But generality comes at a price: the interface that results might not be
        the best for every specialization. People may end up wrapping a B.MI container
        in its own class every time they want to use it as a bidirectional map. Boost.Bimap
        takes advantage of the narrower scope to produce a better interface for bidirectional
        maps <a href="#ftn.boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex.f0" class="footnote"><sup class="footnote"><a name="boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex.f0"></a>[2]</sup></a>. There is no learning curve if you know how to use standard containers.
        Great effort was put into mapping the naming scheme of the STL to Boost.Bimap.
        The library is designed to match the common STL containers.
      </p>
<p>
        Boost.MultiIndex is, in fact, the core of the bimap container.
      </p>
<p>
        However, Boost.Bimap do not aim to tackle every problem with two indexed
        types. There exist some problems that are better modelled with Boost.MultiIndex.
      </p>
<div class="sidebar">
<div class="titlepage"></div>
<p>
        <span class="bold"><strong>Problem I - An employee register</strong></span>
      </p>
<p>
        <span class="emphasis"><em>Store an ID and a name for an employee, with fast search on each
        member.</em></span>
      </p>
<p>
        This type of problem is better modelled as a database table, and <span class="bold"><strong>Boost.MultiIndex</strong></span> is the preferred choice. It is possible
        that other data will need to be indexed later.
      </p>
</div>
<div class="sidebar">
<div class="titlepage"></div>
<p>
        <span class="bold"><strong>Problem II - A partners container</strong></span>
      </p>
<p>
        <span class="emphasis"><em>Store the names of couples and be able to get the name of a person's
        partner.</em></span>
      </p>
<p>
        This problem is better modelled as a collection of relations, and <span class="bold"><strong>Boost.Bimap</strong></span> fits nicely here.
      </p>
</div>
<p>
        You can also read <a class="link" href="the_tutorial/additional_information.html" title="Additional information">Additional
        Information</a> for more information about the relation of this two libraries.
      </p>
</div>
<div class="footnotes">
<br><hr style="width:100; align:left;">
<div id="ftn.boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex.f0" class="footnote"><p><a href="#boost_bimap.bimap_and_boost.bimap_and_multiindex.f0" class="para"><sup class="para">[2] </sup></a>
          In the same fashion, Boost.MRU will allow the creation of <span class="emphasis"><em>most
          recent updated</em></span> aware containers, hiding the complexity of Boost.MultiIndex.
        </p></div>
</div>
</div>
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<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright &#169; 2006-2012 Matias Capeletto<p>
        Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
        file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
      </p>
</div></td>
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